Ancestry Tip: How to search the 1939 register by date of birth

Do you have an an ancestor whose date of birth you know from another record, but you’re still struggling to find them in the 1939 register? Did you know you can search using a date of birth rather than just a year of birth? Here’s how.

For example, let’s say I’m looking for my ancestor Mary Jane Martin. I have her date of birth as 20 March 1888 from the death index. I know she was probably living in Lancashire somewhere, as this is where her children were born, but a general search on Ancestry didn’t find her.

Let’s start with Ancestry

First of all, rather than searching all of Ancestry’s records, you can search specifically the 1939 register here. Enter the details you know, including the full date of birth, and click search.

And she’s the second one on the list. Bear in mind, some people’s details are redacted from the 1939 register due to their age, so they still won't appear in your search results if the record is closed.